Rugby league reporter

A bizarre injury suffered by former Cronulla full-back Isaac Gordon led to controversial sports scientist Stephen Dank being dismissed from the club.

Fairfax Media understands it was severe bruising from the groin to the ankle on one of Gordon's legs that resulted in the club ending its association with Dank.

The Cronulla Sharks have medical records of the blood test that was taken after Gordon had suffered the cork that caused the bruising following the round-10 match against the Sydney Roosters in 2011, but the nature of the injury remains a mystery.

The club also has photo evidence of the alarming injury, which will be put forward in the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority investigation.

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"The [Cronulla club] doctor [David Givney] and his wife tested me for everything, even cancer," Gordon said yesterday.

"Everyone was surprised at how bad it was. They'd never seen anything like it. I was told that it was bruising you'd only see on a 90-year-old lady.

"They both gave me blood tests but no one knew what it was from."

Gordon suffered the cork during the game against the Roosters at Sharks Stadium on May 15 but managed to finish the match.

The 26-year-old had an ice bath and took measures after the game to minimise bruising, but those measures had little impact.

"I woke up the next day and I had bruising right down from my testicles to my ankle," Gordon said. "I was shitting myself and my missus was freaking out.

"My leg was black and I was thinking to myself, this is not normal. I sent a picture of it to my mum and dad."

Gordon said that when he went to training, coach Shane Flanagan, football manager Darren Mooney (now sacked) and captain Paul Gallen told him to get it checked out, so he went to see a doctor.

Gordon played in the next match, against Parramatta on May 23, with padding on his thigh.

After a Cronulla board meeting on May 29, Dank's contract with the club was terminated.

Gordon, who is now working in the mines in Gladstone after failing to strike a deal with the Sharks, insisted he never received an injection during his time at the club, nor did he see another player injected.

He described Dank as a "strange dude" to whom he had never spoken during his time at the club.

Gordon is yet to receive a phone call from ASADA, but given his injury is at the centre of the investigation, he is expecting to be interviewed in the coming weeks.